Van Diest Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Van Diest Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 62.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Van Diest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Van Diest Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported a strong second quarter, with revenue up 24% year over year to $119.8 billion and earnings of $9.11 per share, well above estimates. Google Cloud growth, reported at approximately 82%, and continued strength in Search and YouTube reinforced the company’s AI monetization story. Alphabet Stock Is Gaining Monday: What’s Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and portfolio managers largely continue to support Alphabet’s long-term outlook. Bullish arguments point to enterprise AI adoption, a roughly $514 billion Cloud backlog, improving Cloud margins and early evidence that AI features can strengthen Search and other services. Berkshire Hathaway’s substantial Alphabet position also provides a notable vote of confidence. Alphabet Q2 Strength Reinforces the Bullish Case
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube reached a multiyear agreement with NBCUniversal to include Peacock content for U.S. YouTube Premium subscribers beginning in 2027. The deal could improve subscription value, engagement and YouTube’s competitive position in streaming. NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Peacock Deal

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $393.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $326.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.70 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $359.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.